1/19/2017 Indian women will never be equal as long as these 9 laws remain on the books Quartz

GENDER BENDER

Indian women will never be

equal as long as these 9 laws
remain on the books
Diksha Madhok June 25, 2014 Quartz India

No country for women. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

In Goa, a Hindu man can remarry if his previous wife does not give birth to
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1/19/2017 Indian women will never be equal as long as these 9 laws remain on the books Quartz

any male children till the age of 30. And this law is just the tip of the
sanctioned sexism across India.

A recent UN report lists all the ways laws of cially support men over women.
Quartz culled through and found the worst offenders:

Hindu laws of inheritance: Right now different religions have different

personal laws that regulate inheritance, marriage, separation and
guardianship in India. In the case of Hindus, the property of a woman who
dies without a will is handled differently from that of a man. In the absence of
spouse and children, the husbands heirs inherit the womans estate.

Even if the deceased woman was ill treated in her marital home, her
husbands mother or father will get her property instead of her own mother
or father, says Kirti Singh, the family and property lawyer who authored the
UN report .

Parsi laws of inheritance: Despite shrinking numbers, Parsis still penalize

those who marry outside their communityand its allowed. A non-Parsi
woman who is either a wife or widow of a Parsi cannot inherit. Their children
still can, although those born to a Parsi woman married to a non-Parsi man
are not considered part of the community.

Prohibition of Child Marriage Act: The marriage of a 1-year-old or 10-

year-old is valid. The law only prevents the marriages of children; it does not
render them illegal once they actually happen. According to the UN, this is
one of the main reasons why the custom still ourishes in rural ares.

The married children, however, have the right to declare it void. A woman can
call off a marriage until she turns 20, whereas a man has till age 23.
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1/19/2017 Indian women will never be equal as long as these 9 laws remain on the books Quartz

Age of consent: Sexual intercourse with a girl below the age of 18 is

considered rape. But since child marriages are not illegal, a man can legally
have sex with his wife even if she is a minor, as long as she is above the age of
15. Further, marital rape is not criminalised in India.

Rape of a separated wife: The rape of a separated wife carries lesser

punishment than the rape of any other woman. Forced sexual intercourse
with the former is punishable with two to seven years of imprisonment.
Prison sentence for the rape of any other woman ranges from seven years to
life.

Marriageable age: The minimum age for marriage for a boy is 21, but 18 for
a girl. This is a legal extension of the patriarchal mindset that believes that a
wife should always be younger than the man.
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Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act: Women are still not equal
guardians of their children. A father is considered the natural guardian of a
child, although the custody of offspring under the age of 5 will ordinarily be
awarded to the mother.

The Goa Law on polygamy: A law recognises the second marriage of

Gentile Hindu man of Goa if his previous wife does not have any children
before age 25 or if she does not have a male children by 30.

The new BJP government has promised a uniform civil law applicable to all
Indians, irrespective of religion. But it also holds up Goan Cvil Code as the
model to be enforced all over the country. This polygamy provision hardly
makes it upstanding.

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1/19/2017 Indian women will never be equal as long as these 9 laws remain on the books Quartz

No right to marital property: Upon separation or divorce, an Indian woman

is the entitled only to maintenance from her husband. She has no right on the
assets, such as house or commercial property, bought in her husbands name
during the marriage. So if she leaves him or gets divorced, even years after
the marriage, she is potentially without assets. Indian government policies do
not consider the work done at home by a woman as having an economic
value.

There are occasional silver linings: Provisions in the Goa Civil Code allow
each spouse 50% share in their marital property after divorce.

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